A New Chair at the Table - for Rural Voters

By Carla Schoonover-Porter

Co-Founder, The 134 PAC

At The 134 PAC, we organize in places most statewide campaigns once overlooked.

We show up in small towns and county seats. We meet voters at sale barns, coffee shops, volunteer fire departments, and community centers. We don’t parachute in during election season and disappear afterward. We build relationships year-round, because rural Texas deserves more than a campaign stop.

For years, rural Democrats have felt unseen. We’ve watched campaigns focus almost exclusively on major metro turnout, hoping it would be enough to overcome overwhelming Republican margins in smaller counties.

It hasn’t been enough.

Governor Greg Abbott does not win by accident. Every cycle, he runs up massive margins in rural Texas while Democrats focus on maximizing Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Even in 2022 his narrowest re-election — those rural margins protected him.

The math has always been clear: If Democrats want to win statewide, victory runs through rural Texas.

But something important is happening right now!

Over the past several months, the Texas Democratic Party has begun investing more seriously in rural infrastructure, strengthening county parties, supporting organizers, and recognizing that rural communities must be part of the statewide strategy. We are not all the way there yet, but progress is happening. And that matters.

Rural Democrats have never asked for special treatment. We have simply asked to be seen, heard, and valued as part of the coalition.

And now, more than ever, our voices are being recognized as essential to the path forward.

Rural Texans care about the same things every family care about, Affordable groceries and fuel. Property taxes. Access to healthcare. Strong public schools. Reliable infrastructure. The ability to make a living and keep their land.

We are not asking for perfection. We are asking for presence.

At The 134 PAC, we’ve learned something simple but powerful: rural voters respond to authenticity. They respond to candidates who understand shift work, ranching, farming, volunteer service, small business ownership, and church potlucks. They respond to people who show up...not just during election season, but long before and long after.

In this election cycle, we are seeing energy around leaders who reflect rural Texas in both background and understanding. Candidates who have worked 24-hour shifts, run ranches, balanced small business payrolls, and served their neighbors before ever running for office are drawing attention in communities that often feel overlooked.

That matters.

Not because biography alone wins elections — but because connection builds trust.

The path forward is not about abandoning our urban strongholds. It is about adding rural margin improvement to the equation. If we reduce Republican margins in rural counties by even a few percentage points, it changes the statewide math in a meaningful way.

You don’t have to win every rural county. You just have to compete in them.

And here is the deeper truth: Republicans did not take control of Texas in one election cycle. It happened over years of organization, discipline, and persistence. We will not rebuild in one cycle either, but we are working hard, and working together will get us there.

If we continue showing up. If we continue building infrastructure. If we continue investing in rural leadership. If we continue elevating candidates who understand rural life. If we continue working day in and day out.

We will get there!

This campaign cycle presents an opportunity — not just for one candidate, but for rural Texas to step fully into its power within the Democratic coalition. With stronger infrastructure, stronger relationships, and stronger voices, we can finally align the statewide strategy with the reality on the ground.

The path forward is not complicated. If we want to win rural Texas, we must compete in rural Texas. And if we want to win Texas statewide, we must recognize what has always been true:

Victory runs through rural Texas!